Firm: NorCal median home price rises in Feb.

JACOB ADELMAN, Associated Press Writer

The median home price in Northern California posted a year-to-year increase in February for the fifth consecutive month, but sales continued to slog through a slow patch that began at the beginning of 2010, a tracking firm reported Thursday.

San Diego-based MDA DataQuick said the 20 percent increase in the median price from February 2009 was due to a dip in foreclosures and an increase in high-end sales.

The median for the nine-county area increased to $354,000 from last year's $295,000 and about 1 percent from January's $350,000.

About 4,990 homes were sold in the region in February, DataQuick said, up nearly 3 percent from January. But sales were down slightly from about 5,030 in February 2009.

DataQuick President John Walsh attributed the drop to job security fears among potential buyers, difficulty obtaining financing and a decrease in the number of low-priced homes on the market that are affordable to most buyers.

"The sales and price data remain choppy, with more ups and downs than we'd typically see," Walsh said. "The market remains fundamentally off kilter."

Foreclosures comprised about 37 percent of resales last month. Though down from a peak of 52 percent for the region in February 2009, last month was the fourth consecutive month that the portion of sales that were foreclosure increased.

Walsh said the volume of homes in various stages of the foreclosure process suggested that the housing market's outlook would remain murky for some time to come.

"The key question is how much more distressed inventory is coming, and when," he said.